(NewsNation) — Detention centers across the United States that are housing immigrants who entered the country illegally are beginning to fill up despite the Department of Homeland Security recently adding four new facilities that will hold those in federal custody facing deportation.
About 1,000 of the 5,000 detention beds at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas — nicknamed “The Lonestar Lockup” — are expected to be filled by the end of this week. The facility is considered the nation’s largest immigrant detention center and began adding detainees earlier this week, when 100 immigrants were moved into the center.
Texas Republican lawmakers, including U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales and U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, have toured the Fort Bliss detention center, which other local officials have characterized as a “concentration camp for migrants.”
Gonzales, who represents much of Texas’ southern border, called El Paso County Commissioner David Stout’s characterization of the facility “comical.”
“He’s gaslighting everybody,” Gonzales told NewsNation. “That’s the furthest thing from the truth.”
The detention centers, which include two in Florida, “Alligator Alcatraz” and the “Deportation Depot,” join another recent addition in Indiana, which Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem called the “Speedway Slammer.” The expansion of migrant detention centers is continuing months after DHS officials announced that ICE’s current allotment of facilities had reached capacity.
NewsNation confirmed this week that the migrant center population had reached a record level of nearly 60,000 detainees, which is the highest since 2019, when more than 57,000 migrants were in federal custody during President Donald Trump’s first administration.
All of the facilities are opening as part of 287(g) agreements that partner state and local government agencies with the federal government. A DHS spokesperson told NewsNation this week that the agency has secured 897 partnership agreements nationwide.
While saying the agency will not get ahead of Noem in announcing future plans for specific detention sites, the spokesman said DHS is working at “turbo speed” to deliver cost-effective and innovative measures for the mass deportation of criminal migrants.
The DHS spokesperson also said the agency has enough new funding available to maintain an average daily population of 100,000 migrants and 80,000 new ICE beds at federal detention sites. White House border czar Tom Homan told reporters this week that he would like to see more large ICE detention centers that would offer between 4,000 and 5,000 beds.
Trump’s funding bill provided $45 billion in federal funding for the expansion of migrant detention centers. Noem has said recently that she is hoping to build more partnerships, and a DHS spokesperson told NewsNation this week that the agency would not get out in front of Noem in announcing where more detention centers could open.
The expansion of detention space comes as ICE continues to conduct immigration enforcement operations around the country. However, amid complaints that ICE officers are not properly identifying themselves and wearing masks, DHS has announced plans to roll out a fleet of vehicles that are marked with ICE branding and the slogan, “Defend the homeland.”
The vehicles will debut in Washington, D.C., DHS sources said, but will eventually be used around the country. However, officers that NewsNation spoke with have expressed concerns that the vehicles will put them in greater danger. Noem recently said that assaults on ICE officers have “increased by 1,000%,” and officers tell NewsNation that they fear the new vehicles will call attention to them.
ICE officers told NewsNation the rollout is “absolutely ridiculous” and is a “bad move” as sharp focus remains on how federal officers are doing their jobs.